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2018 Winter Jazz Fest Cheat Sheet

By Hank Williams
January 12, 2018 //

Words by Hank Williams

In New York City this week, it’s cold, wet, gets dark insanely early, and unending service changes lend a Chess-like complexity to late night or weekend subway trips. Such is the state of winter in the Big Apple, but just when we get close to peak Seasonal Affective Disorder, the annual Winter Jazz Fest blows in to give you a reason to rush out and brave the cold for a weekend. 130 reasons, in fact–the number of acts the festival boasts spread across its multi-day span—with some 600-odd musicians making things happen.

The 14th edition of the ever-expanding annual showcase follows a familiar format: two marathon nights of music in venues scattered around the heart of Greenwich Village, with a few standalone opening and closing events – some of which are already sold out—and we’re told that tickets for even the marathon nights are going fast.

As we’ve done for the past few years, we’ll go through a shows with a viewers’ guide to some of our preferred picks, with an admitted lean toward former guests on our Suga in My Bowl radio show.

I’ll point you toward the full schedule for Friday January 12 and Saturday January 13 marathon nights and artist lineup, but hopefully this will help wade through the myriad choices available each night. Obviously, there are several ways to experience the festival. You can either pick and choose key acts, take a more eclectic approach and see what you find, or some combination of the two. It’s all good.

FESTIVAL THEME AND FOCUS

Following the lead of last year’s event, the festival again tackles themes of social justice. This is most clearly addressed through three different talks during the course of the festival.

“Jazz on the Border” will highlight issues around US visa laws and their impact on musicians. Drummer Terri Lyne Carrington moderates the “Jazz and Gender” panel, which includes Angela Davis and pianist Vijay Iyer among the panelists.

“The Long March: a Conversation on Jazz and Protest” on Tuesday the 16th is the only one with an admission fee, but is easily worth the price. Saxophonist Ras Moshe, who’s becoming well known in free and avant garde jazz circles, moderates the talk among saxophonist Archie Shepp, flutist Nicole Mitchell, and pianist Samora Pinderhughes.

The above talk immediately precedes a concert by Nicole Mitchell, who is this year’s resident artist. Mitchell will present a new release, Mandorla Awakening II, a sci-fi themed Afrofuturist composition. She also fronts Maroon Cloud with vocalist Fay Victor on Wednesday the 17th at Le Poisson Rouge.

Mitchell has a couple of appearances during the Friday/Saturday marathon nights. “Art and Anthem for Gwendolyn Brooks” honors the late Chicago poet and features pianist Jason Moran.

If you (understandably) don’t want to wade through the wall of words here, you can just scroll to picks for the first marathon day on Friday or second day on Saturday.

TICKETS AND ADMISSION

WJF has several options available for the standalone shows, marathon nights (either one or both) or full festival passes for the hardcore enthusiasts. The one constant is that we strongly recommend tickets in advance, since even with the expanded venues at the New School, it’s possible to get closed out of nights–and you save some money over buying at the door. The “marathon” nights on Friday the 12th and Saturday the 13th are sold for the entire night only: not for individual shows. They’re still a pretty good deal for how much music you get if you see more than a single show, and there’s likely something to suit almost everyone’s taste. 2-day passes and full festival passes get entrance to the marathon days as well. Separate tickets are available for the opening and closing events, with the exception of events that sell out.

Recommendation: Consider the 2-day marathon pass even if you can only make it for parts both evenings since that saves you even more.

LOCATIONS AND LOGISTICS

The WJF’s heart is still in the center of the Village: with venerable institutions Zinc Bar, The Bitter End, and Le Poisson Rouge returning. The New School continues as a festival sponsor and provides several spaces for the festival in its campus clustered around 13th Street off Fifth Avenue, including some much needed larger venues. All of these are close enough to comfortably (though maybe briskly) walk between for sets. Zinc Bar is small and popular, so be warned that seeing an act scheduled there means getting there very early, and possibly skipping something else in the process. Quite frankly, last year I opined that it needed to be dropped. WJF has simply outgrown the venerable space and it’s unfair to stick artists in there.

On the western frontier of the Village and Tribeca are SOB’s and the Django at the Roxy Hotel.

Nublu’s new(ish) second location at 151 Avenue C, between 9-10 Streets returns this year. It’s a brisk walk or quick bus or L train ride away from the action clustered near the center.

Subculture and Bowery Ballroom are clustered together on the Lower East Side and round out this year’s venues.

Obviously, figuring out what one wants to see also means taking into account the logistics of who’s playing where and getting between venues.

 

 

Photo credit: Winter Jazz Fest (screenshot)

FRIDAY JANUARY 12 HIGHLIGHTS

Adegoke Steve Colson and Iqua Colson 7 PM at New School Tishman Auditorium 63 5th Ave

The Colsons have been playing together since the 70s, with Steve’s piano and Iqua’s vocals taking an innovative look at nearly everything they’ve done. Trombonist Craig Harris joins them this evening in a tribute to the late pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, a co-collaborator in the New York chapter of AACM. It’s a rare opportunity to see them.

Sons of Kemet 7:40 PM at Le Poisson Rouge

Saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings may not be a household name on the US—yet—but he’s been steadily making a name for himself on the UK jazz scene with various groups. He returns following a successful US debut last year with Shabaka and the Ancestors. Sons of Kemet has a bass-heavy sound with a tuba prominently featured in the front line with Hutchings’s free-form playing flying above it. For a deep dive, see our show on him last month.

Fay Victor SoundNoiseFUNK 9 PM New School Jazz Building 5th Floor Theater (55 W 13 St)

Vocalist Fay Victor is another name that you might not know, but you should. Victor came to my attention through the NYC avant garde jazz scene and Vision Festival, where she’s been a staple for years. However, that’s selling her short. Her prodigious vocal talent, songwriting ability, and commitment to the music only became completely clear to me during out recent show with her. In this set, expect a broad approach to the jazz tradition drawing deeply from the Blues. It won’t be a straight ahead set, and that’s a good thing.

James Brandon Lewis’s Unruly Notes 11 PM Zinc Bar

Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis has been steadily woodshedding and the fruits of his labor are becoming clear. His regular trio including bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Warren Trae Crudup have expanded to include electric guitarist Anthony Pirog, who featured prominently on their last release. Here, the concept expands even further with trumpeter Jamie Branch. The band plays hard—though with increasing finesse—buoyed by Crudup’s steady backbeat. Lewis’s style leans toward the avant garde end of the spectrum, but that’s just one of many lenses he uses to approach nearly everything from hip hop to Anton Dvorzak compositions and feed them through the jazz tradition. The most unfortunate thing about this set is the location, which has been way too small for WJF for years now. You’ll have to come very early and probably wait on line for a while, but the set will be so very worth it.

Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition 11:20 PM at Bowery Ballroom

Meanwhile, over on the east side, saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition takes the Bowery stage. True to their name, expect an eastern-inflected take on jazz. It’s a late start time, but a solid backup if you decide that the wait to enter Zinc Bar is too daunting.

SATURDAY JANUARY 13 HIGHLIGHTS

Jazzmeia Horn 7 PM at New School Tishman Auditorium 63 5th Ave

Vocalist Jazzmeia Horn’s fortunes have been rising recently with a Grammy nomination for her debut release A Social Call. Horn’s already moved past where she was at the time of the recording, however. Horn is scarily talented, and enthusiasm to push the limits of her instrument will see her scatting, rapping, and marshalling a range of vocalizations in the space of a single performance. Horn’s an example of a young talent showing a different and fresh approach to jazz that attempts to join standards and the jazz tradition with younger audiences and the pop influence. Commendably, though, she does this without resorting to gimmicks and a refusal to sacrifice the jazz tradition. We’ve got an interview with her cued up for a future show, so stay tuned!

Antonio Sanchez and Migration 7:40 PM at Le Poisson Rouge

Drummer Antonio Sanchez is a busy man. In addition to heading his own migration ensemble, he’s been touring with guitarist Pat Metheny and the occasional gig with vocalist Thana Alexa, who’ll be with him here.

Harriet Tubman Plays Free Jazz 9 PM at New School Tishman Auditorium 63 5th Ave

In what has to be one of the most daring sets of the festival, Harriet Tubman will be taking a crack at riffing off of Ornette Coleman’s masterpiece Free Jazz. Here, the Tubman power trio of electric guitarist Brandon Ross, bassist Melvin Gibbs, and drummer JT Lewis will be joined by the lineup from saxophonist James Brandon Lewis’s Unruly Notes (see above) and saxophonist Darius Jones. It promises to be a wild ride. Gibbs deserves credit for the idea, which will be less a note-for-note recreation of the original than using it as a springboard for Coleman’s harmolodic approach and a modern take at what would happen if two different groups played together at the same time, improvising among themselves and riffing off each other.

Nicholas Peyton’s Afro Caribbean Mixtape 9:20 PM at SOB’s

Trumpeter Peyton’s Mixtape builds on snippets of speeches by Dr. Greg Kimathi Carr, who heads Howard University’s Afro American Studies Department. The recording blends Peyton’s ethereal trumpet lines with remixed snippets of sound. Peyton’s set should lean toward the pop/ electronic end of the spectrum. It’ll be a completely different approach from the maelstrom of the Tubman set. They’ll both be good in different ways.

Rene Marie 10:20 PM at Subculture

On a much different note than much of what I’ve presented, vocalist Rene Marie promises an intense, straight ahead set. Marie’s focus on technique, straight singing, and ballads provide a quieter, more contemplative experience than some of the more raucous acts at WJF. If that’s your speed, then you know where to go.

Sun Ra Arkestra Plays Live Score to Space is the Place 11 PM at New School Tishman Auditorium 63 5th Ave  

You could do much worse than just camp out the entire evening in the cavernous Tishman Auditorium. Like the previous Harriet Tubman set, we find the Arkestra digging back into the archives for inspiration. In this case, it’s a take on the 1974 film starring Sun Ra himself and directed by John Coney with substantial input from Ra. In a nutshell, Ra and the Arkestra return to Earth in their music-powered spaceship to take Black people with them from the decaying planet with “sounds of guns, anger, and frustration” and “see what they can do on a planet all of their own.” With touches of sci-fi, soul, and a hint of Blaxploitation, it’s the expected wild ride, with music and appearances from the Arkestra weaved through several scenes. It’s not clear how the current Arkestra will approach the task, though Arkestra veterans Marshall Allen and Danny Ray Thompson were part of the original production and will be in the house along with newer members. Whatever happens, it’ll be a way-out adventure.

Jamaladeen Tacuma Brotherzone 1 AM at Subculture

You’ll have to stay up really late for this set, but if you do, you’ll be treated to a funky set from the alum of Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time band that, in his words draws on the “sounds of soul, funk, jazz, rock, ambient poetics and the vibrations of life.” As a special treat, Abiodun Oyewole from The Last Poets will lay down some of his poetry.

SUNDAY JANUARY 14 HIGHLIGHT

Ravi Coltrane Presents Universal Consciousness: Melodic Meditations of Alice Coltrane 7 PM at Le Poisson Rouge

If you haven’t had enough already–or skip one of the marathon days–then there’s a single concert on offer Sunday night, but it’s a good one. In this separate ticketed event, saxophonist Coltrane presents some of his mother Alice’s music. Coltrane will build on the Indian-influenced sound of Alice’s later work, especially Translinear Light (2004).

MONDAY JANUARY 15 HIGHLIGHT

A Tribute to Geri Allen 8 PM at New School Tishman Auditorium 63 5th Ave  

Drummer Geri Allen has assembled a stunning cast to pay tribute to the late Geri Allen, who died last year. The concert is a fundraiser for the Geri Allen estate, so tickets are separate, but it’ll be a memorable event for a pianist who left a big mark on the music and left us way too soon.

That’s just scratching the surface of the festival, but hopefully there are a few ideas here for starters. I’ll be at many of the shows highlighted, though admit to still making up my mind. The good news is that there’s enough here that it’s hard to go wrong and even if a set doesn’t live up to expectations, there’s another one that’s bound to more than make up for it. See you on the other side. I’ll be back with a festival review.

If you missed them, see our preview shows with saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, vocalist Fay Victor, and a tribute to late pianist Geri Allen.

Hank Williams is an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York. Find him on Twitter: @streetgriot

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Categories Event Listings, Jazz Festivals, Previews

2016 Winter Jazz Fest Cheat Sheet: Part 2

By Hank Williams
January 16, 2016 //

WJF2016_Schedule_Cheat_Sheet
 
In this part of the preview, I’ll look at a few select acts on Saturday night (Friday’s picks were in my previous post) and take a quick look at Sunday evening’s show that wraps up the festival.
 
Again, there’s an admitted bias toward musicians featured on our Suga’ in My Bowl radio show since we like to keep long-term tabs on the people we profile. But we think you’ll like them too — or at least should give them a shot.
 
As a reminder, the festival has several new stages this year–at New School University, WNYC Radio’s Greene Space, and elsewhere. The WJF is adding extra check-in tables at different venues (PDF), which should shorten some of the long lines from previous years, but it’s still best to plan to arrive really early for the sets you want to catch. The linked PDF gives a good overview of the logistics and you should take a quick look at it before you leave.
 
With that out of the way, let’s get to the music.
 
Saturday Highlights
 
Ibrahim Maalouf: New School Auditorium @ 66 W 12th St. 7:40 PM

Lebanese saxophonist Ibrahim Maalouf shows yet another of the intriguing directions jazz takes when interpreted by players worldwide. Maalouf’s work blends Arabic sounds with the jazz tradition and solid playing. Maalouf is coming off a successful show at Jazz at Lincoln Center and backed by bassist Larry Grenadier, his show will be one to catch. Here’s a clip from a live show in Istanbul.


 
 
Chris Potter Quartet: New School Tishman Auditorium @ 63 5th Ave. 8:40 PM

To be honest, saxophonist Chris Potter wasn’t really on my radar until he popped up on Pat Metheny’s new releases with the Unity Band. I’m fixing that omission now and beginning to appreciate Potter’s voice on the instrument, which shone more on the 2013 Kin recording (Nonesuch) with an expanded Unity Group that revisited some of the musical concepts of Metheny’s mid-90s recordings. With pianist (and longtime collaborator) David Virelles, drummer Marcus Gilmore (fresh off last night’s set with Vijay Iyer’s trio), and bassist Joe Martin, expect a hard charging, open set of music. Here they are live in Hanover, Germany.


 

Will Calhoun Celebrating Elvin Jones: New School Jazz Building 5th Floor Theater @ 55 W 13th St. 9:40 PM

Full disclosure here: I’ve been a fan of Will Calhoun since seeing Living Colour in the mid-90s and wore out the cassette of their critically acclaimed self-titled first release. Since then, he’s matured as a musician and gone in interesting directions, seriously applying his skills to jazz and African percussion. The Elvin Jones tribute makes perfect sense and complements Calhoun’s drumming style well, as he can play with the power (and volume) and finesse Jones was known for. Beyond that, however, Calhoun has an impressive narrative ability on the drum kit and, like Jones, can inscribe multiple textures and layers of meaning into a solo and carry it seemingly forever while still keeping it interesting. Here, he’s joined by a slightly different line-up than is on the planned release, but they’re easily up to the task. This is one set I’m really looking forward to. For a deeper dive, see our 2013 show profiling Will, or for a quick take, watch this preview of the Jones project.

 

Lakecia Benjamin: The Bitter End (147 Bleecker St) — 9:40 PM

The 9:40 PM conflicting shows gives an idea of the breadth of the WJF. Lakecia Benjamin’s been at the festival before and usually heads the Soulsquad, which derives as much from the wells of funk and soul as it does from the jazz tradition. Add the vocals of Nicole Phifer and The Bitter End’s loose atmosphere, and you have a party with equal appeal to listeners who aren’t diehard jazz fans or are new to the music. Don’t write her off as a novelty act, though. Her 2012 RETOX (Motéma) release showed her depth and range as a musician and just as Will Calhoun shows one way forward for jazz, Benjamin shows yet another possible direction. Choice is a good thing.


 

OGJB Quartet: New School Auditorium @ 66 W 12th St. — 10:20 PM

It’s hard to write a short intro to saxophonist Oliver Lake, because what do you omit? Lake, who has roots in the Black Arts Movement has been steadily playing and expanding his reach since then and currently works on a variety of projects. In addition to being a member of TRIO 3, with veteran players Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille, Lake leads several combos of his own including a big band and an organ quartet. Lake’s as comfortable playing “out” as he is swinging in a more relaxed setting, his command of the sax and ability to finesse the instrument clear no matter who he’s with. He appeared at last year’s WJF with TRIO 3 and his own organ quartet; this year you get to see what he does in a different setting altogether. For a deeper dive, see our 2014 show on him or watch this clip from a 2015 quartet performance with bassist Joe Fonda (who’ll also be at WJF) at the 2015 Krakow Jazz Festival for a quick take.


 

Sun Ra Arkestra directed by Marshall Allen: Judson Memorial Church — Midnight

If you haven’t seen the Sun Ra Arkestra in action, they’re a must see. Even if you have, they’re worth seeing again. They’re still led by saxophonist Marshall Allen, who’s been part of the ensemble since nearly the beginning and assumed conducting and leading duties after the deaths of Sun Ra himself and fellow saxophonist John Gilmore. Don’t be fooled, however: the Arkestra’s far from a novelty or throwback act. The 91-year-old Allen plays with astonishing power and enthusiasm that belies his age and has done an impressive job of honoring the tradition of the Arkestra while giving Ra’s compositions a fresh new spin and looking toward the future — which, of course, is what they’re all about. It helps that Ra was a prolific composer (Allen told us that he still has boxes of new work that he still hasn’t gone through) and the addition of vocalist Tara Middleton’s restored a welcome dimension to their performances, with a voice reminiscent of June Tyson, but fantastic depth and range. For a deeper dive, you can see our 2014 show, or for a quick take, watch this performance from 2015. Here they are live in Poland in 2015.

 

Julian Lage Trio: Subculture (45 Bleecker St) — 12:20 AM

Julian Lage has gone from a child prodigy on guitar, playing with luminaries such as Carlos Santana (at the age of eight, no less), Pat Metheny, and subject of the documentary film Jules at Eight to being the mature musician he is today. His latest recording (World’s Fair, Modern Lore: 2015) is a solo effort, but the interplay with bassist Scott Colley and drummer Kenny Wollesen should be particularly good. And you have the opportunity to see him solo, too, as he opens for Sunday’s closing show (scroll down for details). We talked to him last December and here’s the same trio in action at the Vermont Jazz Center in 2015.


 

Sunday Show

Channeling Coltrane: Rova’s Electric Ascension: Le Poisson Rouge 6 PM

If you still haven’t had enough after two marathon days, then why not wrap up the weekend in style with the Rova Saxophone Quartet? Guitarist Julian Lage is scheduled to open for them with a solo set drawing on his World’s Fair release. Rova themselves exemplify the large format free-form type of playing that’s a rare find outside venues like these. Their take on Coltrane’s classic and complex Ascension promises to be an incredibly challenging and exhilarating performance. If that’s you cup of tea, then it’s a must-see set. Here’s the Rova Saxophone Quartet live in 2012.

 
Lastly, I’ll point you to the full performance schedule. They also have a handy guide to full group line-ups, which you can check to see if a favorite musician is on the list somewhere. Finally, there’s a map of the various venues, but you will get all that at the check-in sites (PDF).

And if you still haven’t had enough, Vision Fest promoters Arts for Art have a monthlong “Justice is Compassion” festival running through the next week across town at the Clemente Soto Velez Center that’s definitely worth a look and I’ll profile later.

So that’s it. Again, it’s a lot of acts and I’ve only scratched the surface here, but they’re all really good and different in fun ways. Find who’s to your liking and take some time to see someone you haven’t — you might become a fan of a new group — or see how someone you’ve already seen interprets material this time. Look for a full review after it’s all over and I’ve gotten some sleep.

Shameless self-promotion time: if you’re not already a listener, check out our show that airs alternate Sunday nights from 11 PM – 1 AM on WBAI Radio and streams online. As part of our coverage, we talked to festival director Brice Rosenbloom and two musicians performing — guitarists Julian Lage and James “Blood” Ulmer — to get a variety of perspectives.

Are you going? Anyone in particular you’re looking forward to seeing? Let me know in the comments.

Hank Williams is an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York. Find him on Twitter: @streetgriot

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Categories Event Listings, Jazz Festivals, Previews

2016 Winter Jazz Fest Cheat Sheet: Part 1

By Hank Williams
January 15, 2016 //

WJF2016_Schedule_Cheat_Sheet

This year’s Winter Jazz Fest celebrates its 12th birthday by expanding to 12 different stages in and around Greenwich Village. It’s grown into a mainstay of the New York music scene, providing a welcome respite from the unpredictable depths of winter, joining the longtime summer mainstays the Charlie Parker Jazz Fest and Vision Fest (who are running a parallel festival throughout January this year) along with the newer Blue Note Jazz Festival.

The fest kicked off Wednesday January 13, with a preview show at Le Poisson Rouge and featured an event spearheaded by Mike LeDonne to support the Disability Pride Parade (held for the first time last year) on Thursday. Saxophonist Kamasi Washington, who headlined last October’s BRIC Arts Jazz Fest and whose appropriately titled 3-CD debut The Epic has gotten a lot of great press, broke his ankle and had to have his performance postponed until February 24 at Le Poisson Rouge Webster Hall. I’ve already got it saved on my calendar.

Friday and Saturday the 15th and 16th are again the big days. The Jazz Fest bills them as two “marathon” nights of music and they’re not wrong: this is where the majority of the action will take place. It’s a huge, wonderful spectacle with lots of choices and sets starting as early as 6 PM and as late as 1 AM at some venues for the diehards. As I did last year, I’m going to highlight a few of the acts I’ll be keeping an eye on, with an admitted bias toward musicians featured on our Suga’ in My Bowl radio show since we like to keep long-term tabs on the people we profile. Hopefully that’ll give you a head start as well if you don’t already have favorites you want to catch.

I’ll focus on Friday for this post and Saturday/Sunday in the next post.

Festival Logistics

The festival has several new stages this year, thanks to a new partnership with New School University, which gives some badly needed extra space, although they’re further from the main venues slightly further south in the Village.

To compensate for that, the WJF is adding extra check-in tables at different venues (PDF), which should shorten some of the long lines from previous years, but it’s still best to plan to arrive really early for the sets you want to catch.

In addition to the main check-in areas in the basement of Judson Memorial Church (Thomson St side entrance) and New School University Center (63 5th Ave, bet 13-14 Sts.), there are secondary check-ins at Subculture (45 Bleecker St, off Lafayette) and at WNYC Studios’ Greene Space (43 Charlton St.).

There are several options for tickets, depending what you want to catch. I’d recommend full passes for Friday and Saturday nights as the best bets and an insanely good deal for how much music there is, but you can do either day separately. There’s also a shorter closing event on Sunday that I’d recommend as well — and will cover it in part 2 of our cheat sheet.

Friday Highlights

Quarktet Burnt Plays Ornette, Sunny, and Wayne: Judson Memorial Church 6 PM

Greg Tate’s large ensemble and one of the many permutations of The Burnt Sugar Arkestra earns a leadoff spot at the main stage this year. Expect a lot of excitement, energy, and electronics as they work their way through the catalogs of Ornette Coleman, Sunny Murray, and Wayne Shorter. As a bonus, you’ll also get to Mikel Banks play the freak-a-phone! I have no idea what it is, but it’s gotta be cool. See the embedded YouTube clip (audio only) of their interpretation of Shorter’s “Footprints” will give a little taste of what to expect.

James “Blood” Ulmer: New School Auditorium @ 66 W 12th St. 9 PM

Ulmer’s a solo act here and his set promises to pull deep from the dual wells of the blues and Ornette Coleman’s harmolodics, which Ulmer absorbed during his stint with the late saxophone innovator in the 1970s. Ulmer’s done a lot since then and approaches shows with the wisdom of a veteran who can call up ideas from a widely diverse background. Ulmer lit up the 2014 Vision Fest with his Music Revelation Ensemble and had equally spirited performances in 2015 at The Stone and a rare duo with fellow guitarist Marc Ribot at City Winery. Suga’ in My Bowl profiled Ulmer on January 10 and he promised to be playing the Blues. You listen to the full show on our website and for a quicker take, check out his solo performance at the 2015 Skopje Jazz Festival.

Dr. Lonnie Smith’s Evolution: Judson Memorial Church 9:20 PM

You’ll have an inside track for Hammond B3 organ master Dr. Lonnie Smith’s forthcoming Evolution release if you catch his set. Smith is a veteran of the fabled Blue Note record label in the 1960s and made his name as a sideman on influential albums like Lou Donaldson’s Alligator Boogaloo before striking out on his own illustrious career. While the WJF highlights new and upcoming acts, the ability to see someone like Smith whose still at the top of his game is a definite highlight of the festival. Smith, appropriately, gets a coveted slot on the Judson main stage in prime time. For a much deeper dive, see our show on Dr. Lonnie, or see them in action at the 2015 BRIC Arts Jazz Fest in the embedded video.

Charenee Wade Group: The Music of Gil Scott Heron and Brian Jackson: New School Jazz Building 5th Floor Theater @ 55 W 13th St. 9:40 PM

Vocalist Charenee Wade’s deservedly gotten a lot of positive press for her latest Motéma Records Offering release, a tribute to the music of Gil Scott-Heron and longtime Heron collaborator pianist/keyboardist Brian Jackson. It’s not easy to do covers of well-known work — and they’re often poorly done or add little understanding to the originals. That’s not the case with Wade’s effort. Her turn on Scott-Heron’s question “did you ever turn your sick soul inside out so the world can watch you die?” gives the work a haunting quality and fresh new spin that’s balanced by Stefon Harris’s vibes on the CD. Nikara Warren will be handling vibraphone duties for this set, but bassist Lonnie Plaxico, pianist Brandon McCune, guitarist Dave Stryker, and saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin (who we’ve previously profiled) will be part of the combo and appear on the release. Drummer Darrell Green rounds out the sextet. The preview video of Offering will give you a quick take of what to expect.

René Marie: Zinc Bar 10:20 PM

If you manage to get into Zinc Bar, then you might as well stay around, especially if your tastes run toward vocalists working with the traditional jazz songbook. René Marie’s last effort was a tribute to the iconic Eartha Kitt, whose stage presence had Marie so enamored with Kitt’s work that she broke a promise she had made to resist doing a release of song covers. Marie handled the material just fine and her soulful, soothing vocals might be just the antidote you need on a hectic Friday night. We interviewed her back in 2013 and you can see her in action in the following clip.

Christian McBride: New School Auditorium @ 66 W 12th St. 10:20 PM

If you’re already at the New School for the aforementioned James “Blood” Ulmer show, there’s a strong case for sticking around to see bassist Christian McBride in action. He’s joined here by drummer Nasheet Waits, trumpeter Josh Evans, and saxophonist Marcus Strickland. McBride’s seemingly all over the place these days, either hosting National Public Radio’s “Jazz Night in Ameica” or appearing in various combos. He’s a versatile bassist who’s earned his stripes and, especially with the combo at the WJF, is always someone to look out for. We profiled him in 2011 and had so much fun that we brought him back into the studio to talk about Jazz Fusion. See him in a live session for NPR in the embedded video.

Vijay Iyer Trio: New School Tishman Auditorium 11:20 PM

Pianist Vijay Iyer returns to this year’s festival with his usual trio of bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore. Their last release Break Stuff was deservedly well-reviewed and saw the group pulling their inspiration from hip hop sampling and toying with the idea of “the break” as a theme. We wrote up a short blurb around the video preview (which is fantastic, BTW) and did a full show on Iyer back in 2015. See the band perform “Hood” live at the Portland Jazz Festival.

Nublu Orchestra “We play for you, Butch Morris”: New School Auditorium @ 66 W 12th St. 1 AM

The WJF is sticking to its proud history of keeping the idea of the after hours session alive and sweetening the pot by scheduling a few fiery acts late at night. So it is with the Nublu Orchestra, which takes its name from an unlikely East Village spot that happens to host some seriously experimental jazz acts – the biggest name among them being the Sun Ra Arkestra (who lands @ the WJF on Saturday), harking back to their days at the long lost Five Spot Café. While I haven’t seen them in person, the Nublu Orchestra–with a nod to the late conductor Butch Morris, who casts a wide shadow over avant garde jazz—looks to be an ensemble that’ll push the boundaries of the form itself in the spirit of the Arkestra. With a long subway trip back to The Bronx awaiting me, I’m not sure I can stay up that late, but after watching the following live video of a Butch Morris memorial, I may have to re-evaluate that plan.

Lastly, I’ll point you to the full performance schedule. They also have a handy guide to full group line-ups, which you can check to see if a favorite musician is on the list somewhere. Finally, there’s a map of the various venues, but you will get all that at the check-in sites (PDF).

So that’s it. That’s a lot of acts! But they’re all really good. Find who’s to your liking and take some time to see someone you haven’t—you might become a fan of a new group. Check out part 2 of our cheat sheet for Saturday/Sunday in the next post and I’ll check back in with a full review after it’s all over.

Shameless self-promotion time: if you’re not already a listener, check out our show that airs alternate Sunday nights from 11 PM – 1 AM on WBAI Radio and streams online. As part of our coverage, we talked to festival director Brice Rosenbloom and two musicians performing — guitarists Julian Lage and James “Blood” Ulmer — to get a variety of perspectives.

Are you going? Anyone in particular you’re looking forward to seeing? Let me know in the comments.

Hank Williams is an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York. Find him on Twitter: @streetgriot

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Categories Event Listings, Jazz Festivals, Previews
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